Obituario, despedida a Don Avión

Obituario, despedida a Don Avión is configured as an installation proposal that takes the form of a funeral. The project is structured around the figure of Don Avión, understood as a character who condenses the different readings associated with the imaginary of the airplane: from the emblem of technological progress and mobility, to its use as a combat tool and device linked to violence.

The exhibition proposes a farewell gesture towards this second dimension. Through an approach that combines the ceremonial with the ironic, the installation proposes a symbolic burial of the airplane as a figure of war, questioning its historical role as an instrument legitimized under narratives of progress and development.

The elements that make up the proposal (painting and photographic installation) are presented as part of a vigil, displacing these objects from their original function. This change of context allows for a critical approach to their meaning, highlighting the dialectic between progress and destruction.

The project avoids literalism and constructs a space where the solemnity of a funeral ritual coexists with a slight ironic distance. In this sense, the exhibition does not seek to close off a single meaning, but rather to open a field of interpretation around the ways in which certain technological devices have been incorporated and normalized within contemporary imaginaries.

Overall, Obituario, despedida a Don Avión is presented as a conceptual proposal that, through the idea of farewell, invites us to critically reconsider the narratives associated with progress and its implications.

Artist

Alex Gambin
Alicante, 1996

Graduated in Fine Arts and a Master’s degree in Artistic Production from the Polytechnic University of Valencia. His work is developed between painting, installation and intervention in urban space, and has been presented in galleries and institutions such as B-Murals (Barcelona), Tuesday to Friday (Valencia), STAIN Projects (Palma) and MuVIM (Valencia). In 2024 he received the First Prize of the Juan Francés National Painting Competition, in Xàtiva.

He has established himself as one of the most prominent emerging voices in the new Valencian art scene. A member of the so-called Generation V —young Valencian creators who are redefining the local art scene—, Gambín represents a generation that combines conceptual research and aesthetic commitment.

His artistic practice revolves around social and cultural issues crossed by a deep interest in memory and the relationship between past and present. Based on artistic, literary and everyday references, he constructs works that put the limits of painting and its forms of communication in tension, generating mechanisms that invite the viewer to reflect and actively question the reality he inhabits.

His work continues to expand both in the exhibition and mural fields, consolidating his position within the panorama of Spanish contemporary art.

Agustina Bornhoffer
Montevideo, 1999

Curator and cultural manager trained at the ORT University in Uruguay. She completed her training in Valencia with a master’s degree in International Contemporary Art Market and the Artistic Practices and Critical Thinking program at the Valencian Institute of Modern Art (IVAM). Her curatorial practice focuses on the analysis of contexts, narratives of displacement and migration, and the humanities as a tool for critical reflection.

He began his professional career at Jorge López Galería and has collaborated with the Vangar and Gabinete de Dibujos galleries, participating in fairs such as ARCOmadrid, Estampa and SWAB Barcelona. In 2024 he curated Bolsos y tacones a juego by Antonio Ovejero at the Diputació de Cuenca and wrote the curatorial text for the exhibition by Claudia Pastomás at the Chirivella Soriano Foundation. In 2025 he presented Tierra de Nadie, together with Candela Bado and Jorge López Galería, and his project BUGS, made with Emilio Bianchic, was selected in the Scroll call by Las Cigarreras. He currently directs the Pràcticas de Context program at the La Nau Cultural Center, in collaboration with the University of Valencia.